Say Cheese: Building an Authentic Brand Through Pictures

Today’s REI Classroom Lesson

Today, Sharon Vornholt shares her tips on getting professional photographs taken that are authentic to you and your business. She mentions not wearing a suit or nice dress if that doesn’t represent you in real life.

REI Classroom Summary

Having a professional take your photos can help ensure higher quality, flattering photos. Once the photos are done, she recommends removing old, poor quality images on social media and your website and replacing them with your new photos.

Listen to this REI Classroom Lesson

Real Estate Investing Classroom Show Transcripts:

Mike: Welcome back to the flipnerd.com REI Classroom, where experts from across the real estate investing industry teach you quick lessons to take your business to the next level. And now, let’s meet today’s expert host.
Sharon: Hi, this is Sharon Vornholt, back here today with another episode of the REI Classroom. And today, I want to talk about building an authentic brand through pictures.
Mike: This REI Classroom real estate lesson is sponsored by theinvestormachine.com, FlipNerd’s private investor coaching program, and your blueprint to investing success.
Sharon: You know, let’s face it, most of us would rather have a root canal than hire a professional photographer. I know most people feel that way. You worry about all your flaws, and the way you look, and all of that, but good or bad, pictures tell a story, and your pictures tell a story about you. Now, when you have quality photos on your website, it helps people to know who you are. Good branding photos will go a long way toward telling your story, to helping people understand the inner workings of you.
Now, let’s talk about, just for a minute, about showing up authentically. When you do your branding photo shoot, one thing you don’t want to do is show up in clothes that you wouldn’t normally wear. Now, here’s an example. Let’s say that you are normally a casual person, kind of a ‘jeans and jacket and boots’ kind of guy or gal, and suddenly, you go for your photo shoot and you show up in a suit and tie, or women show up all dressed up in heels and a suit, and all of that, but that’s not you. People would look at your pictures, if that’s not you, and say, “Who the heck is that person?” So, you want to show up . . . You want to look good, that’s for sure, but you want to show up and be authentic.
So, quality photos are essential for creating brand perception, and the brand perception that you are the market expert, or the market authority. Remember that your brand is the way people feel about you, and it’s up to you to create that feeling, and one way that you do that is through your photographs. Brand perception is almost always 100% created by you. Sure, your reputation plays into it, but an even bigger piece is that you create that perception.
Now, the other thing that you don’t want to do, if you’re a woman, is come up with, what we’ll call them, with one of the glamour shots. So, hair and makeup, daytime hair and makeup. Guys, just your normal best version of yourself.
So why hire a pro? Well, this one is really simple. You hire a pro because they can make you look better. That’s the real thing. Not only do they have a better camera, but they know how to shoot you so that your perceived flaws, whether they’re real or perceived, are not so obvious, and they can retouch photos. This is for all the ladies out there. This is a biggie. So getting a good photographer, they do, certainly, have a better camera, which is really helpful, but they know how to shoot you in your best light and how to portray you the way you want to be portrayed.
Now, you can use props. I used the example, one time before, if you’re a coffee drinker, maybe you want to have a video with you with your coffee cup in your hand. If you’re a dog person and you always take your dog with you . . . I know someone like that who happens to be a real estate investor. It’s not unusual for her to have her dog in the car with her when she’s looking at a house. So, it would not seem unrealistic for her to have one of those photos be of her and her dog. If you’re a family man and that’s part of your brand, there’s nothing wrong with having a family photo on your site.
But once you get your photos done and you’re happy with them, then it’s up to you to take the last step, and that is to put them all across social media, and to put them on your website, and make sure that they are uniform across your sites. Swap out all of the old selfies and cellphone shots and all of those, with your quality pictures.
So, once again, this is all about building an authentic brand through pictures, and you do that by hiring a pro. So, if you have any questions, be sure to just, you can reach me over at the Louisville Gals Real Estate Blog, and I’m happy to answer them. Thanks so much.
Mike: Are you looking to change your life through real estate investing? If you’re interested in either getting started or taking your business to the next level, please check out FlipNerd’s private program at theinvestormachine.com. This is the most robust real estate investor coaching, networking, and mastermind on the planet, and designed for your success.
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